Feels like home ... best of both worlds - GALLERY

Set high on five acres of land, when most people walk into Will and Robyn Miller's 220 square metre home their jaws drop as they take in the vista from large windows in every room in the house.

The couple bought the block in 2002 and built the house in 2005 before moving there in 2006.

Robyn said she'd spent many an hour talking about the sort of house she wanted to build with her architect who had built a career on designing large public buildings and jumped at the chance to design her second-only residential property.

"We wanted to build something that would be sustainable in our older years," Robyn said.

"We'd talked about the house (concept) for many years, we didn't want to just sit down with a brief."

Inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and Bruce Rickard, Robyn said in the end the design fitted the couple's needs perfectly.

While technically a four-bedroom house, the couple have turned two of the bedrooms into offices and the other spare room is currently housing Will's 21-year-old son Todd.

"I love it, for two people it works really well, Will really needs his lock-away geek space and he's got that," Robyn said.

"It's a easy house to live in and you don't need to have any heating on at this time of year until around 3 o'clock."

Designed as a "smart house" the couple are able to electronically control the house's lighting and blinds.

They also electronically control the positioning of their pergola which sits above a 24-metre expanse of windows which slide open onto an iron bark deck.

After spending so much time on the house's design Robyn wanted its furnishings to be complementary so worked with interior designer Tony Ward to create a natural palate that showcases wood features throughout the house including the river red gum exposed beams and the brush box floor.

Robyn had nothing but praise for carpenter Terry Parker's attention to detail.

When it came to the house's exterior Robyn wanted a house that would "sit into the landscape and not on the landscape" so worked with landscape architect Helen Oates to achieve this goal.

"We also wanted to take advantage of the view," Robyn said.

The couple knew the bypass would be visible from their property so prioritised having windows that were double-glazed to restrict any traffic noise. 

Yet despite all of the large windows in the house, the property is extremely quiet, inside and out.

While Robyn and Will won't call this there forever home yet, they see no reason to move anytime soon.

tracey.prisk@fairfaxmedia.com.au